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Parenting an Infant

Mothers are perhaps the closest parents to their children and especially when these children are at their infant ages. This comes about mainly because nature has placed mothers as the custodians of their children right from conception. At birth, all the infant sees is an environment made of its mother. The first words that the child starts to speak are learnt from its mother and perhaps that word is “mum” or “mama” in some dialects.

Mother-child relationships have however proven to be unparalleled. Mothers love their children unconditionally and on the same note, the children love them back in equal measure. This socialization between the two has always defined the lifestyle of a people. There are mothers who provide such love and protection to their children to the point of fighting wars because of them, putting their own lives to risk for the sake of their children. Intrepid mothers, as they are mainly referred to as, will always want to know where their children go, what they eat, whom they play with and even what their teachers teach them in school. Many find this form of parenting weird but to these women, that is the way to raise a child-maximum care and protection.

In the lives of these children of intrepid mothers, life is like a fairy tale. They get all the necessary attention they need in the world! Often they grow up adoring their mothers and finding them as the heroines of their life. The bond is even more when the child in question is a boy. Boys tend to bond more with their mothers than the girls do. Perhaps this is because of what the psychologists term as electro-complex condition. Males get attracted to females more than their male counterparts do. The same is true for the fathers and their daughters.

A child who grew up under an overprotecting mother would recall a situation where the mother would quarrel her neighbor simply because his or her child abused or mishandled them. When next to the mother, the “baby” would easily throw tantrums as the two adults trade barbs over the allegations of mistreatment of the concerned juvenile. It feels so good to be such loved and protected! In school, the other students will avoid “joking” with this child whose mother is totally there for him or her. If it happens that the concerned child gets into a quarrel or a fight with any of the students, the mother will find herself in school to take on the culprit head-on. Teachers are also not spared from the wrath of these mothers. They will always be in school to enquire on any violation of their children’s welfare-even administering normal discipline would be unheard of in these mothers’ bank of words.

Several mothers approached to share their experiences about their early parenting end up describing the feeling of being a new parent as sensational. They are so mesmerized about everything-from the transition from being a girl to being a mother to the fact that they have brought life to earth. This feeling(s) is perhaps what drives some of them to be overzealous mothers who cannot let their children learn life the hard way. They will always want to spoon-feed and give them all the goodies of life.

It goes without saying that mothers love their children and it is because of this that the society is mainly shaped by the kind of mothers who are there. Some old adage has it that “whoever cannot learn from his/her mother will end up being taught by the world”. Husbands, daughters and sons, love your mothers and don’t miss any chance to show them your love in any possible way – with a hug, with a kiss, a song or a present for Mother’s day!

“Be a Mother who is committed to loving her children into standing on higher ground than the enviroment surrounding them. Mothers are endowed with a love that is unlike any other love on the face of the earth.” ―Marjorie Pay Hinckley